Retail Openings and Closures

Wow, I have never really needed to go to a walmart unless it was for some sort of black friday or other sale event.  Amazon/Target/Costco/Trader joes seem to take care of my needs... is it that much cheaper at Walmart than target?
 
Perfect timing by catering to the affordable project population. TIC would not want Walmart to ruin the upscale image so only a few locations not own by TIC are viable. I rarely shop retails located in TIC properties. The overhead is high for the retailers and I pay more as a result. I shop at the District and now even better when Walmart is across the street. :D
 
Thanks to kalbi's post, stopped by Boiling Point for dinner tonight.. not too bad... good flavors in the soups...  not enough meat.. got full off cabbage..  the garlic thick soy sauce reminds me of my childhood....

Their house special soup has stinky tofu, pork blood, and pork intestines (chitterlings?), I think only taiwanese will like these flavors.. and you do smell it when you open the door so warn your non-chinese friends that it's meant to smell that way.

Beef Broth
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Kim Chi Broth
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Extra fish ball and chinese doughnut
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ps99472 said:
Thanks to kalbi's post, stopped by Boiling Point for dinner tonight.. not too bad... good flavors in the soups...  not enough meat.. got full off cabbage..  the garlic thick soy sauce reminds me of my childhood....

Their house special soup has stinky tofu, pork blood, and pork intestines (chitterlings?), I think only taiwanese will like these flavors.. and you do smell it when you open the door so warn your non-chinese friends that it's meant to smell that way.

Beef Broth
676111d8.jpg


Kim Chi Broth
f5c65a6b.jpg


Extra fish ball and chinese doughnut
8be73a1e.jpg

You tried the same flavors I did, and agree, wish they put more meat. But the garlic soy sauce really reminds me of Taiwan too! I heard their shaved snow is better than the Balcony. Gotta try that next time.
 
Wood Ranch BBQ finally opened in the Irvine Spectrum:

www.woodranch.com

We ate there a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty good.

Capital Seafood, Cucina Enoteca (Italian) and Paul Martin's American Grill will be opening soon too.

PF Chang's is currently closed for remodeling.
 
So they are opening a Class 302 a taiwanese restaurant that has a successful rowland heights store.(same owner of balcony in diamond jamboree.) Basically offering many of the similar items of balcony at a 25% less price..
 
anyone tried Koko's Cafe?  Drove by the other day and saw it has opened...  should be HK style cafe food/drinks... 

It's on the corner of Jeffrey and Irvine Ctr Dr. where the BBQ place use to be..

Another thumbs up for iTea cafe nearby... been buying takeout a few times.. food is pretty good.. getting use to their beef stew noodle..
 
Attempted to dine at Balcony at DJ this past Sunday.. Why is every Asian family out on Sunday night in the same location?  We drove to the top of the parking lot and then drove all the way down and no open spots...  if I want to feel cramped, I should've bought in rowland heights..
 
Koko's cafe was a disappointment..  i know i shouldn't expect decent food from a HK cafe.. lived in SF for 3 years of my life and never had a good meal at a HK cafe there... it's only good if everything else is closed and you want a fancy overpriced drink or some greasy chow fun to go with the overpriced drinks you bought at the club you just left...
 
SWSH Shabu Shabu opened recently:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/swsh-shabu-shabu-irvine

Had lunch there today, ordered the angus rib eye, really good cuts of meat, though quantity is a little stingy at $19 for large..  service is ok, like the soup broth finish which is a dashi flavored soy sauce base.. you just dump whatever is left in your hotpot into it and make yourself a nice bowl of japanese flavored soup..  asked for some extra tofu and wasn't charged didn't know if that was an error..  open at 11am and they have a happy hour at 5-6pm...  they do taste like House of Shabu Shabu on Walnut.. wonder if it's the same owner..
 
ps99472 said:
SWSH Shabu Shabu opened recently:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/swsh-shabu-shabu-irvine

Had lunch there today, ordered the angus rib eye, really good cuts of meat, though quantity is a little stingy at $19 for large..  service is ok, like the soup broth finish which is a dashi flavored soy sauce base.. you just dump whatever is left in your hotpot into it and make yourself a nice bowl of japanese flavored soup..  asked for some extra tofu and wasn't charged didn't know if that was an error..  open at 11am and they have a happy hour at 5-6pm...  they do taste like House of Shabu Shabu on Walnut.. wonder if it's the same owner..

if you like japanese style shabu shabu, you should try shabu shabu bar in santa ana. it's pretty darn good.
if you like chinese hot pot, you might like the red pot in garden grove. all you can eat for $19.99.
 
kalbi said:
ps99472 said:
SWSH Shabu Shabu opened recently:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/swsh-shabu-shabu-irvine

Had lunch there today, ordered the angus rib eye, really good cuts of meat, though quantity is a little stingy at $19 for large..  service is ok, like the soup broth finish which is a dashi flavored soy sauce base.. you just dump whatever is left in your hotpot into it and make yourself a nice bowl of japanese flavored soup..  asked for some extra tofu and wasn't charged didn't know if that was an error..  open at 11am and they have a happy hour at 5-6pm...  they do taste like House of Shabu Shabu on Walnut.. wonder if it's the same owner..

if you like japanese style shabu shabu, you should try shabu shabu bar in santa ana. it's pretty darn good.
if you like chinese hot pot, you might like the red pot in garden grove. all you can eat for $19.99.

thanks for the recs... outside of Irvine, we usually go to Ten Shabu in West Covina when visiting family..  also Ichi Ichi in Rowland Heights is pretty decent as well...there was a hot pot place (wu-ji?) that has a sour cabbage stock as your hot pot but sadly they closed down a few years ago... if someone knows another place that can do sour cabbage, please let me know.. 
 
Red Brick Pizza at the District is closing.

Wow... that center just keeps on dying... where is test to tell how great living next to it would be?
 
The reality is for every one American eatery closed 2 Asian eateries opened. We will soon see an interesting shifting dynamic. Non TIC retail centers are in the process of getting facelifts to justify a higher rent. At some point Asian eateries will populate all non TIC centers. The ones in TIC centers with the exception of Sam Woo are all struggling too with high overhead. Late 80's Culver/Westpark Asian corridor is losing its popularity to the new Asian Woodbury/Jeffrey corridor.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
The reality is for every one American eatery closed 2 Asian eateries opened. We will soon see an interesting shifting dynamic. Non TIC retail centers are in the process of getting facelifts to justify a higher rent. At some point Asian eateries will populate all non TIC centers. The ones in TIC centers with the exception of Sam Woo are all struggling too with high overhead. Late 80's Culver/Westpark Asian corridor is losing its popularity to the new Asian Woodbury/Jeffrey corridor.

Wait till Little Sheep opens next to Marie Calendars...  that should drive more people back...  what we need is a decent cafe/diner that I always see on Fieri's diners drivein's and dives...  mom and pop's type restaurants can't make it on TIC rent?
 
ps99472 said:
irvinehomeshopper said:
The reality is for every one American eatery closed 2 Asian eateries opened. We will soon see an interesting shifting dynamic. Non TIC retail centers are in the process of getting facelifts to justify a higher rent. At some point Asian eateries will populate all non TIC centers. The ones in TIC centers with the exception of Sam Woo are all struggling too with high overhead. Late 80's Culver/Westpark Asian corridor is losing its popularity to the new Asian Woodbury/Jeffrey corridor.

Wait till Little Sheep opens next to Marie Calendars...  that should drive more people back...  what we need is a decent cafe/diner that I always see on Fieri's diners drivein's and dives...  mom and pop's type restaurants can't make it on TIC rent?
I've been wanting a greasy spoon in Irvine forever. Instead I go to the ones in around Irvine:

Tustin:

Mega Burger
Classic Burger

Santa Ana:

Yellow Basket
The Original Yellow Basket

Lake Forest:

Burger Town, USA

And that's why the view lot is so humongous.
 
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